Green Knights Open MWC Slate With Sweep of Ripon

From Sports Information Director, April 10, 2016 | Baseball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

RIPON - St. Norbert College began play in the Midwest Conference North Division with a doubleheader sweep of Ripon College by scores of 8-1 and 15-4 at Francis Field.

The Green Knights (6-6, 2-0 MWC) swept a doubleheader from the Red Hawks in Ripon for the fourth time in nine seasons. The 11-run margin of victory in the nightcap matched the largest ever at Ripon, joining a 15-4 win there on May 3, 1997.

St. Norbert rode ace Jake McMahon to the win in the first game. McMahon, who allowed a solo home run to Nick Schmitt in the first inning, was stingy after that. McMahon allowed just six hits and walked just one while striking out five.

The Green Knights broke through with two runs in the top of the fifth inning, plating a pair on Hunter Larson's two-run single. St. Norbert added two more runs in the sixth inning on RBI fielder's choices by Jason Malkowski and Robbie Dombrowski.

Sean Grant added a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. St. Norbert put the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth inning. Larson and Grant had RBI singles while Adam Enwiya had a sacrifice fly.

Larson finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Grant and Tyler Brown were both 2-for-4, with Grant totaling two RBIs.

St. Norbert scored early and often in the nightcap, getting five runs in each of the second and third innings. The Green Knights then added four runs in the fourth inning to take a 14-1 lead.

Enwiya had a two-run single in the second inning to cap the Green Knights' first five-run rally. Enwiya added another two-run single in the third inning to score Griffin Jack, who had a run-scoring single of his own earlier in the inning. Derek Klegin stroked a three-run double in the fourth inning to key the Green Knights' third consecutive rally.

St. Norbert pounded out 15 hits in the nightcap. Enwiya was 3-for-5 with five RBIs, while Klegin was 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Jack was 2-for-3 with four runs scored and two RBIs. Tyler Banovich was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Brown scored three runs.

Malkowski went five innings to register the win, allowing six hits with three walks and four strikeouts.